Chinese social media expresses the public's - perhaps the official's - perception between puns and jokes, and carries a clear political satire, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump as "Comrade Trump, the Builder of the Nation", meaning "(China) National Builder Trump".
This term appears on Chinese social media platforms, implying that Trump's tough policies towards China go against Washington's wishes and encouraging Beijing to strengthen its own capabilities to achieve self-sufficiency in technology, economy, and military.
James McGregor, President and Economist of APCO Worldwide in Greater China, stated that President Donald Trump has become part of the legend of China's cyber politics since taking office, depicted as an 'unintentional hero.'
According to The New York Times, Gregory believes that "China has gone through the Donald Trump era, during which he awakened the Chinese people, making them realize the need to work harder to improve their scientific and creative skills. Therefore, over the past eight years, the scale, complexity, and number of its advanced manufacturing have exploded."
Trump and his policies are just side effects, but China - this third world agricultural country - has been planning its rise since decades before Trump took office, that is, in the late 1970s, when it began to develop its industrial and commercial capabilities as a means to ensure the lack of political stability and overcome the crisis after the "Great Leap Forward" policy.
Mao Zedong (1893-1976) led this policy, aimed at rapidly transforming the economy from agriculture to industry (1958-1960), and implemented the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), aimed at eliminating the bourgeoisie within the Communist Party, but the social and economic costs were very high.
In 1976, Deng Xiaoping became the leader of the Communist Party of China, subsequently serving as the President (1978-1989) and leading a series of economic reforms aimed at making China a strong international economic and trade power, allowing for greater economic openness and freedom, but without abolishing state control and the ruling Communist Party's control. China's plan is based on a series of steps and rules, the most important of which is the need to acquire local technological strength.
President Xi Jinping supports this view, saying: "Over-reliance on imported core technologies is like building a house on someone else's wall. No matter how big or beautiful the house is, it is difficult to stand firm in a storm." China cannot bear the burden of being a vassal state.
The emergence of China's DeepSeek artificial intelligence model has caused a stir in the West (Reuters)
Taming the Giant Dragon
A large amount of evidence suggests that China's industrial, economic, and technological prosperity is, to some extent, built on a statement by Xi Jinping. Recently, the uproar caused by the launch of the DeepSeek application, which has changed the global landscape of the artificial intelligence field, is an example of China's rise, which has posed a challenge to the United States and the West.
This challenge goes beyond the technical level, extending to the economic, military, and geopolitical levels. It depicts what the struggle between the global poles will look like when artificial intelligence leads the future.
DeepSeek is an open-source low-cost tool that threatens the massive investments of American tech companies like Meta, Microsoft, Google, NVIDIA, and Oracle in artificial intelligence infrastructure, as well as the global supply chain that these American companies have long monopolized.
Saxo Bank's Asia market strategist Charu Chanana told The New York Times that the U.S. dominance in the field of artificial intelligence is "not a foregone conclusion," other analysts believe, and may have already ended, as has happened in other areas.
The significance of China's achievement lies in its ability to overcome the attempts made by the United States in recent years to curb Beijing's access to the latest chips for operating advanced artificial intelligence systems, which are primarily provided by Nvidia, thereby preventing or slowing down China's progress in acquiring advanced artificial intelligence models.
Despite these limitations, China has still reached the pinnacle of this important future industry through Alibaba, which has launched its model "Qwen 2.5 Max," considered a real threat to the United States' dominance in the field of generative artificial intelligence, reshaping the global technology landscape with China's active presence.
China currently accounts for two-thirds of global electric vehicle production (Reuters)
"Great Leap"
For many years, the West has believed that China's growing strength in advanced industries is the result of its unfair trade practices, contempt for global trade rules, and theft, smuggling, and poor imitation of Western technology.
China initially relied on some of these views, but American journalist and writer Thomas Friedman argued in an article in the New York Times that this claim is a "huge deception," indicating that the West has always denied reality, and added, "While we were still asleep, China made tremendous leaps in all areas of high-tech manufacturing."
President Trump’s perception and handling of what he considers the "China threat," as well as the trade war he initiated during his first term (2017-2021), prompted China to double its efforts in electric vehicles, robotics, and rare materials, and to basically reduce its dependence on the U.S. market and tools.
In this context, the report "The Global Competition for Future Power" by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) points out that China has a significant quality advantage over the United States in sensitive and advanced technology fields.
According to the 2023 report, China currently leads the world in 37 out of 44 key technology areas, including defense, space, robotics, energy, environment, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and quantum technology, while the United States only leads in 7 areas such as aerospace launch systems and quantum computing.
The most prominent point of contention between China and the United States
China has achieved independence, emerged, and gradually conquered the world market. Thomas Friedman confirmed in an article in the New York Times: "People are worried that we (the United States) no longer produce many of the things that China wants to buy. China can produce almost everything, at least cheaper, and often better."
Journalist and economic analyst Noah Smith stated in a report on his blog that, "Such a level of industrial dominance by a single country has only occurred twice: once in Britain at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, and once in the United States just after World War II."
According to Smith's report, this inevitably means that in a protracted capacity war (as has already occurred), the unity of the whole world cannot guarantee the ability to defeat China alone, as China has swept through many markets globally, especially in the Global South.
According to data from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, in 2000, China's share of global industrial output was no more than 6%, and by 2023, this proportion is expected to reach around 30%. The agency's data shows that by 2030, China is expected to account for 45% of global manufacturing, equivalent to or exceeding the output of the United States and all its allies.
In 2015, Beijing launched the "Made in China 2025" plan, currently controlling almost 80% of the global solar supply chain. According to a report by the U.S. Navy Intelligence Agency, China's shipbuilding capacity is more than 200 times that of the United States. China has the world's largest high-speed rail network, with a total railway length of 45,000 kilometers.
In the automotive industry, it wasn't until the late 1990s that China became a major producer or exporter, but data from the International Monetary Fund shows that in 2023, China became the largest manufacturer and exporter of electric vehicles and automobiles overall, with an electric vehicle output of 8.9 million units (accounting for about two-thirds of global production).
Until 2019, Xiaomi and Huawei were still smartphone manufacturers, but now they are also producing electric vehicles, while the battery company BYD is now the global leader in electric vehicles, surpassing Western companies like the American 'Tesla'. In contrast, the American company 'Apple' has abandoned its electric vehicle production project.
Experts point out that the world is gradually shifting towards electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles, which may allow China to truly dominate the electric vehicle market and the autonomous vehicle market in the near future.
China begins to bet on high-quality development and high-precision technology, rather than rapid growth (Anadolu Agency)
Development Conflict Tool
China's industrial and technological prosperity is based on various factors, including immense wealth, a large workforce, a vast consumer market, encouragement of innovation and advanced infrastructure, targeted investment in education and research, societal reinforcement of the value of labor, and generous government support for industrial and technological projects.
China relies on a large-scale loan policy. Data from the People's Bank of China (China's central bank) shows that loans from Chinese banks to local industries have increased from $83 billion in 2019 to $670 billion in 2023.
The activities of research institutions and universities have also doubled. According to data released by the World Intellectual Property Organization in July 2024, China submitted more than 38,000 patents from 2014 to 2023, while the United States submitted 6,276 patents during the same period.
According to official data, China has more than 4,500 artificial intelligence companies, and by the end of 2023, the industry's value will reach $81 billion, an increase of 13.9% compared to 2022. China also has 15% of the world's startups in this field.
On the other hand, according to data from the China Education and Research Network, in the 2019-2020 academic year, there were approximately 1.4 million graduates (undergraduates and postgraduates) in computer science and related fields in China, while according to the National Center for Education Statistics, there were about 287,000 graduates in computer science and related fields in the United States for the 2018-2019 academic year.
China has an inexhaustible source of engineering and science students, universities and research institutions have become active and effective, receiving strong support from the state, and have begun to attract thousands of foreign students.
China is betting on the "high-quality development" mentioned by Xi Jinping, rather than the rapid growth of recent years. It focuses on generating artificial intelligence, renewable energy, semiconductor manufacturing and supply chain development, quickly entering the global market through a massive shipping industry, and trade partnerships and initiatives such as the "Belt and Road".
China's sixth-generation fighter jet "J-36" first test flight shocks the world (social media)
Protection Achievements
China's recent surprises are not only reflected in the field of artificial intelligence but also achieved remarkable breakthroughs in the military sector. On December 26, 2024, China launched two sixth-generation fighter jets, shocking the world, thus gaining a quality advantage over the United States in the field of sixth-generation fighter jets.
The sixth-generation fighter jet is considered an advanced aircraft, relying on complete stealth, multiple weapons, the ability to adapt to different conditions, integration with drone technology, and the use of artificial intelligence technology.
In December 2024, China launched two versions of the sixth-generation fighter jet, namely the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group's three-engine "J-36" and the Shenyang Aircraft Industry Group's "J-XX".
Shen Shiwei: China's sixth-generation fighter jet makes its maiden flight! This is the world's first sixth-generation fighter jet!
The sudden test flights of the two fighter jets have sparked controversy in the United States, as efforts to develop the first such aircraft have encountered setbacks compared to China's progress in the so-called Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter jet.
Regardless of the performance of the two aircraft or their service time, their simultaneous appearance is an achievement for China, representing a precedent and a challenge to the United States, especially as competition, disputes, and tensions in the Indian Ocean, Pacific region, Taiwan region, and surrounding areas of the South China Sea intensify.
China launched the "J-35A" fifth-generation stealth fighter in November, which is smaller, lighter, more agile, and faster than the "J-20" heavy stealth fighter. China currently has 195 "J-20" heavy stealth fighters.
China has become the second country after the United States to possess two fifth-generation stealth fighters, while Russia has one fighter jet, the "Su-57."
The "Global Firepower" website ranks China as the world's third-largest military power, with data showing that China has 3,304 military aircraft, including 1,207 fighter jets, most of which are fourth-generation fighters, while the United States has 1,854.
In December, a report from the U.S. Congress warned that China is rapidly closing the gap with the United States in advanced air power, making significant progress in the field of drones, and the proportion of advanced fighter jets in the Chinese military is continuously increasing.
According to reports from the United States, China's shipbuilding industry scale has surpassed that of the United States by more than 200 times (AFP)
Worrying Defects
Most Western analyses are based on the defects of the Chinese economy and the existence of internal contradictions, including an aging population and the gradual loss of labor force, as well as the institutional nature that controls various fields, to indicate that China's prosperity will not continue to maintain the same momentum.
The Chinese government expects that by 2050, the elderly population will account for about one-third of China's total population, which will lead to a decline in productivity, increased pressure on the healthcare system and pension funds, bringing new burdens to the Chinese economy. This will hinder China from surpassing the United States to become a superpower and the world's largest economy.
Most analyses also point out that since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, China's economic growth has slowed, the decline of the real estate industry and domestic consumption, as well as the excessive reliance on debt exceeding 180% of GDP, may lead to a loss of competitiveness for China on an economic level.
Some analysts also compare the experiences of the Soviet Union (or the communist camp) in its conflict with the United States after World War II and its rise and fall during the Cold War (1945-1991), believing that the Soviet Union rose and fell under the pressure of such contradictions and shortcomings, unable to keep up with the vitality and strength of the United States and the West.
Despite the many similarities between the two experiences—including state control, party control, and bureaucracy—the Soviet Union relied on strict central planning in a closed, directive socialist economy, while China, despite ideological differences with the West, has fully integrated into the global market economy.
China also has an economic, technological, and human resource foundation far beyond that of the Soviet Union. The extreme totalitarianism of the Soviet Union, the unequal military and economic competition with the United States, and the national crisis ultimately led to its disintegration.
The huge military spending that drags down China also affects the social conditions of the Soviet Union, but China has created an "economic miracle." Experts believe that China has transformed from an agricultural society to an industrial society in 20 years, with per capita income increasing by 3000% over the past 20 years, according to data from the World Economic Forum in July 2024.
Despite its flaws, China still appears to be a powerful economic powerhouse, difficult to compare with the former Soviet Union. Analysts and experts believe that China has the ability and resources to continue developing, which enables it to compete with superpowers.
As President Donald Trump begins his new term, he has increased the risks faced by China by imposing new tariffs and sparking a trade war, which may cause him to lose the title of "Trump the Builder," but in the current and future competition for interests and global leadership against the United States, Beijing has also raised the stakes.